


turn the page

by Jedi_of_Books_and_Snacks



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: F/M, Mutual Pining, bookshops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22703485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jedi_of_Books_and_Snacks/pseuds/Jedi_of_Books_and_Snacks
Summary: Akane takes Kogami to browse through an old bookstore, and discovers that maybe it is time to uncover something new.
Relationships: Kougami Shinya/Tsunemori Akane
Comments: 7
Kudos: 74





	turn the page

**Author's Note:**

> All my thanks to [thewrathofbombast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewrathofbombast/pseuds/thewrathofbombast) and [sandypenguin6](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandypenguin6/pseuds/sandypenguin6) for breaking out their beta reading skills. This is not exactly what you read, but I hope you both enjoy it.

The car finally pulled into a parking spot along the backside of the old buildings. Outside of Tokyo, the buildings and the streetlights were older, Akane thought, more care-worn. Though there was a kind of tattered grace to these places, if you took the time to see it. Next to her, Kogami looked out the window, one of his hands tapping distractedly against his knee. Silence took the place of the running engine as Akane shut it off and reached for her purse.

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me now why we are here?” One of Kogami’s eyebrows was raised as he looked at her.

“Wait and see,” she said, rifling through her purse and looking half-distractedly for her lip balm. It wasn't under her keyring, was it? No--she thought she'd-- ah! There it was. It took only a second to put some on her lips, and she snapped it closed and absently threw it back into her purse. The car's rearview mirror angled down in her hand as she used her index finger to spread the it-was-almost-sort-of-like-lemon balm across her lips. As she tilted the mirror back, she caught a glimpse of Kogami, watching her. But when she turned to him to say something, he had glanced away.

“All right, Tsunemori,” he said, and his voice was strangely low. There was not much to the seatbelt, but he was immersed in unbuckling himself. “I’m in your hands.”

They both got out of the car, with Kogami evaluating the possible imminent threat parameters of the parking lot. That inability to leave their work behind made her swallow a smile as they locked the car and walked around the shops to the front. 

A small old bookshop--a proper _bookshop_ with actual print novels--was set in the middle of the stores facing the street, its windows filled with a haphazard collection of aged books.

“Are you serious?” He stood still on the sidewalk, blinking. “How did you find this place?”

“I have my ways,” she said, though the real answer was a lengthy online search followed by a lot of phone calls. The thankful look on his face met her growing smile, and it stirred something inside her chest. “Let’s go in.”

A bell rang above them when they entered, though no one appeared at the check-out counter. They were met by the smell of well-thumbed paper, the store filled with books holding discoveries just waiting for someone to find them. 

Kogami stood there for a second, taking it all in. “I think I’m staying here for the rest of time.”

“They do close at eight,” Akane said, “so you’re going to need to be a solid negotiator.”

“That’s--” he checked his commwatch “—an hour and a half from now. I’m sure I can come up with something.”

“Browse while you think about it, ok?”

“Copy that.” Kogami responded absently, his feet already disappearing him down a long aisle as he looked for general fiction. At the end of the shelves, he suddenly turned back. “Thanks,” he offered, “for doing this.”

Akane couldn't hold back a grin. “Any time.”

Their eyes held for a moment too long, until Akane flushed and decided to study the carpet. It was a faded blue-gray, which did not help her, exactly, since she didn't want to tell him that the carpet was a pale imitation of his eyes. When she looked up again to say something, he was gone.

The bookstore was shelved from floor to ceiling and its maze-like quality drew her in. She wandered for a while, caught by a title here and there, and thought of her grandmother and how she would have loved this place. At one point she passed the check-out counter again, and now an older woman sat behind it, her librarian glasses and tight bun made Akane feel like she had fallen back through the centuries. The old lady glanced at her and offered her a tight smile before returning to her work.

Akane carried on and wound her way into the science fiction and fantasy section. A section, she thought, that seemed to have her sudden interests at heart. Many novels did not fall into that cyberpunk genre, but she found one or two old authors that she found she quite liked. She tucked the books beneath her arm, checked her watch, and went to find Kogami.

He was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a clockwork selection of novels, some of them stacked four-to-five high. He glanced up and shifted over; she stepped over the books and sat down next to him, pointing out, “It’s seven-thirty. I hope you brought your talking skills.”

“I think I’ll let it pass this time,” he said. “But next time I’m coming in hot.”

“Well, we have thirty minutes,” she said, “It looks like you have some choices to make.”

“No, I know what I’m getting.” He stood and used his memory to put those books back, the gentle and strong motion of his hands as they ran along the spines enchanted her, and made her wonder what those hands would feel like touching skin. Then he bent to pick up his books as she blinked her way out of it, and held out his hand, saying, “My treat.”

The gentleness was in his motion as he helped her up. “I can’t ask you to pay for my books.”

“Why not? I’m a somewhat free man, now, with a government stipend and everything. If I want to offer to buy you books, I can offer to buy you books.”

“But you paid last time.”

“For coffee,” he agreed, “Now I’m buying books. It’s my two favorite things.”

Unsure how to argue with him, she handed her books over. “I’m paying next time.”

He shuffled her books with his as he started walking, saying too-casually, “If you insist.”

Brow furrowing, she let her eyes roam the shop, stuck on the fact that she had committed to a next time for this. Which wasn't weird--they were friends, after all--but it felt . . . good. “Anyway, I need to find a place that serves scotch and then you will be covered.”

“And if I can smoke there, then I’m all set.”

“Open up the gates to heaven.”

Amusement curled his mouth. “I have a feeling I’ll likely find that spot in hell.”

Akane nodded. “Problematic.”

“Yeah. I’d be sitting with the dregs of a scotch and my last burnt-out Spinel for all eternity.”

“And,” she mentioned, “no server in sight.”

“Right?” He turned the last corner, the huge desk loomed in front of them. “And I bet it’s a bar that loves the oldies.”

“And the rowdy crowd is made up entirely of obnoxious jerks.”

“See?” He placed his books on the desk, prompting the older women to stand and ring them up. “Hell.”

A smile crept over her face. “Well, I’ll see what I can do to avoid that awful fate.”

That look he had, just for her, lit his face. In that moment, Akane Tsunemori was struck by the fact that Shinya Kogami only had that look for her. She'd seen the look he had for his Mom and another for Gino, and for Kunizuka and Sugo and for everyone else he knew, but this-- This was him, asking her if she felt it too. But-- Didn't he know? Didn't he realize that he already had her heart?

Eyes were bright as he leaned close, and said, “I’ll hold you to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> "Uncover something new" was the book pun winner. Read between the lines gets an honorable mention, though, as the one I might have used. And believe you me, I got a loooottt of book puns in my back pocket.
> 
> I'm on Tumblr as [jediofbooksandsnacks](https://jediofbooksandsnacks.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


End file.
